The necessity of learning English in multilingual Algeria: Belhadj Bouchaib University as a case study

Abstract

English is believed to be the language of science and technology; it helps increase the quality of education and promotes social and technological progress. This paper aimed at scrutinising the students’ language preference as a medium of instruction and their attitudes towards an entire English-based instruction. Its significance was established in checking whether or not English is a prerequisite among the learners via a written open-ended questionnaire and oral interview sessions. The present study is built on a mixed method approach to data collection and a probability sampling including 42 master students. These students receive their lectures in French. The findings revealed that the participants seem to hold in high esteem English and appraise it, for it is a valuable means of job opportunities and knowledge transfer compared with French, a language they consider far less effective for their professional career and the prosperity and socio-economic growth of their country.   Keywords: English, higher education, learning, multilingual Algeria, prerequisite.